BRAZILIAN footballer Neymar Jr gestures as he leaves after attending a hearing at the courthouse on Tuesday.—AFP
BRAZILIAN footballer Neymar Jr gestures as he leaves after attending a hearing at the courthouse on Tuesday.—AFP

BARCELONA: Brazil football star Neymar Jr told a court on Tuesday he did not participate in negotiations over his transfer to “childhood dream” club Barcelona from Santos in 2013, but had signed what his father had told him to.

Along with Neymar, 30, eight other defendants are on trial on fraud and corruption charges over the transfer, including his parents, repre­sentatives of the two clubs, former Barca presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell, and ex-Santos president Odilio Rodrigues.

All the defendants have denied any wrongdoing.

“I didn’t participate in the negotiations. My father always took care of it and always will. I sign everything he tells me to sign,” Neymar told the court in Barcelona in his first testimony in the trial that began on Monday.

The case centres on an allegation made by Brazilian investment firm DIS, which owned 40% of the rights to Neymar when he was at Brazil’s Santos, that it lost out on its rightful cut from the transfer because the value of the deal was understated.

Spanish prosecutors are seeking a two-year prison term and a 10 million euro fine for Neymar. They are also seeking a five-year jail term for Rosell and an 8.4m euro fine for Barcelona.

None of the defendants who are representatives or former figures at the clubs have yet given their evidence. Neymar and his parents had the right not to testify but decided to do so, answering questions only from the prosecutor and from their own layers.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, appearing as a witness via videolink, told the court his club had made offers of 45m euros in 2011 and 36m in 2013 to sign Neymar but the player chose to join Barcelona instead.

Law firm Baker McKenzie, which is defending Neymar and his family has said in a statement it will argue that the Spanish courts lack jurisdiction because the transfer involved a Brazilian national in Brazil.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2022

Opinion

Editorial

Quetta bombing
Updated 10 Nov, 2024

Quetta bombing

THERE appears to be no end to the stream of violent incidents occurring in Balochistan, indicating a clear failure ...
Burdened courts
10 Nov, 2024

Burdened courts

ACCORDING to recent reports, the new chief justice has set about implementing a recently adopted plan for clearing...
Playing in Pakistan
10 Nov, 2024

Playing in Pakistan

MOHSIN Naqvi, Pakistan’s cricket chief, has shown a brave face. Now he has to be unrelenting and put the onus on...
Wake-up call
Updated 09 Nov, 2024

Wake-up call

Pakistan must heed UN's wake-up call and bring its laws and practices in line with its international human rights obligations.
Foreign banks’ exit
09 Nov, 2024

Foreign banks’ exit

WHY are foreign banks leaving Pakistan? In the last couple of decades, we have seen a number of global banking...
Kurram protest
09 Nov, 2024

Kurram protest

FED up with the state’s apathy towards their plight, the people of Kurram tribal district took to the streets on...